There’s nothing in the horse racing rulebook that says a dead person can’t win a race — which is exactly what happened to one Frank Hayes about a century ago. The 22-year-old, who had just made the jump from stable hand to jockey, had the misfortune of suffering a fatal heart attack while atop his faithful steed, Sweet Kiss, and the good fortune of finishing — and, because he didn’t fall off, winning — the race anyway. 

The steeplechase (a race involving obstacles for the horses to jump over) took place on June 4, 1923, at the Belmont Park racetrack in Elmont, New York, and was the only race Hayes ever won. Given that Sweet Kiss had 20-1 odds, the victory would have been an impressive feat even if the ill-fated Hayes had been alive to enjoy it. 

There are competing theories behind the cause of Hayes’ heart attack, with one newspaper suggesting he had overexerted himself trying to lose enough weight to qualify for the race. “He was confronted with the task of taking off nearly 10 pounds in 24 hours,” the Buffalo Morning Express wrote at the time. “This morning he spent several hours on the road, jogging off surplus weight. He strove and sweated and denied himself water and when he climbed into the saddle at post time he was weak and tired.” Others believe the thrill of the race was simply too much for the inexperienced rider to handle. 

Though unconfirmed, it’s believed that Sweet Kiss never raced again — and earned the nickname “Sweet Kiss of Death.”